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NH College Football Roundup: Wildcats shut out by Tribe

By ALLEN LESSELSNew Hampshire Union Leader

One of the best defenses in the Colonial Athletic Association shut down one of the best offenses and that made for big trouble for the University of New Hampshire football team on Saturday afternoon in Williamsburg, Va.

William & Mary capitalized on a pair of first-half turnovers to take control of the game and stifled the Wildcat offense throughout on the way to a 17-0 win at Zable Stadium, a place that is becoming a house of horrors for UNH.

The loss snapped a three-game Wildcat win streak and dealt a major blow to the team's hopes of making the FCS tournament for a 10th straight season.

The Wildcats had not been shut out in 18 years.

The last time they were blanked? Sept. 23, 1995, 39-0 by William & Mary in Durham.

The Wildcats are 1-8 overall in Williamsburg.

UNH has lost its last six games at William & Mary and coach Sean McDonnell has lost 10 of the 11 games he has coached against the Tribe's Jimmye Laycock.

No. 16-ranked UNH fell to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the CAA. William & Mary improved to 6-3 and 3-2.

The Wildcats could conceivably make the playoffs with four losses, but there are no guarantees.

UNH still has a rough road ahead with games against James Madison at home next weekend, at Albany on Nov. 16 and at home to close out against Maine on Nov. 23. James Madison is fighting for a playoff spot and Maine improved to 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the league with a 19-14 win over Stony Brook on Saturday.

William & Mary faces challenges ahead as well. The Tribe are at Delaware, home against Towson and at Richmond to close out the regular season.

The Wildcats did not have a turnover in their last two games, a 29-28 win over Villanova at home on Oct. 19 and a 31-13 decision at Stony Brook last week.

On Saturday, UNH turned the ball over three times and did not force William & Mary to cough up the ball.

The first two turnovers led to 10 Tribe points in the second quarter.

Sophomore Sean Goldrich, who started for the fourth straight game, lost his first fumble of the season at midfield at the end of a 17-yard run early in the second period.

William & Mary turned that one into a 27-yard John Carpenter field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Goldrich was banged up on the run and Andy Vailas, the junior out of Bedford and Bishop Guertin High School of Nashua, came on in his place.

Vailas got UNH into William & Mary territory late in the period, but then threw an interception with less than two minutes to go in the half.

The Tribe capitalized with a drive that netted a 6-yard touchdown pass from Brent Caprio to Tre McBride and it was 10-0 with 20 seconds left in the half.

Goldrich and Vailas both got banged up in the game and both played in the second half.

William & Mary received the kickoff to start the second half. Caprio led his team down the field to a 1-yard touchdown run by Jarrell Cooper to end the scoring with less than six minutes gone in the third period.

The Tribe came into the game averaging a league-low 14 points allowed a game and in their five wins have not given up more than seven points in a game.

William & Mary did not let UNH get its run game going and held the Wildcats to season-low totals of 84 yards rushing and 312 total yards. UNH had been averaging 35.4 points a game, 228.4 yards rushing and 460 yards of total offense.

Vailas was UNH's top rusher with three carries for 19 yards.

Harvard 24, Dartmouth 21

A 23-yard field goal off the foot of Andrew Flesher with 48 seconds to play lifted Harvard past the visiting Dartmouth Big Green, 24-21, in front of 13,470 fans at Harvard Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Crimson victory was the 10th straight for Harvard (6-1, 3-1 Ivy) against the Big Green, while Dartmouth fell to 3-4 on the season and 2-2 in Ivy League play.

The Crimson outgained the Big Green by nearly 100 yards, 413-318, thanks in large part to running back Paul Stanton who took the handoff 26 times for 146 yards. Quarterback Connor Hempel picked up 70 yards on 17 carries as well, plus completed 18-of-27 passes for 135 yards.

Senior Dominick Pierre and sophomore Kyle Bramble each had a touchdown run for Dartmouth, but quarterbacks Dalyn Williams and Alex Park managed to complete just 12-of-30 passes for 172 yards with two interceptions — equaling the team’s season total entering the game. Junior Bo Patterson was the leading receiver with five catches for 90 yards.

Plymouth State 34, Worcester State 31

Running back Andrew Foglia was one of the key Plymouth State seniors who stepped up on Senior Day and helped the Panthers to a 34-31 win over Worcester State at Currier Field.

Foglia carried 23 times for 82 yards and three touchdowns. He scored on runs of 14, 1 and 6 yards.

PSU snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the MASCAC. Worcester State fell to 3-5 and 1-5.

Junior running back Mark Hennessy had 19 carries for 105 yards for Plymouth.

The Panthers led 24-12 at the half and held on at the end.

Rob Giles, PSU's junior kicker from Derry and Pinkerton Academy, hit both of his field goals and all four of his conversion kicks. The field goals were 27 and 21 yards and the 21-yarder pushed the Panther lead to 34-25 with 2:14 to play.

Kyle Wilson, a junior defensive tackle from Dover, blocked a pair of Worcester State conversion kicks.